Ian Wright has been fired from Live From Studio Five, a Five spokeswoman has confirmed. Wait. Don’t cry. BBC News reports that the ex-footballer’s refusal to cover segments on the channel’s talent show Don’t Stop Believing was paramount in the broadcaster’s decision.

“Ian Wright’s contract on Live From Studio Five was coming to an end and the decision was taken not to renew it,” said a spokeswoman for Five. “The show will continue with just current presenters, Kate Walsh and Jayne Middlemiss, in a new half-hour format.”

Meanwhile, a source claimed: “His contract was due to end in the middle of September but they decided not to renew it. It was a combination of the two things – he wasn’t prepared to go on and lie and, as a result, they decided not to renew his contract.”

Middlemiss, speaking at the end of last night’s edition of the show, said: “Before we go, we have to give you some sad news – Ian won’t be joining us again here on Studio Five.”

Regarding Don’t Stop Believing, Wright ranted on Absolute Radio, that the show was a ‘dead horse’ while sticking the boot in on show producer Chris Shaw.

Wright said: “This Chris Shaw wants me to dance and jump through hoops saying how great this show is. You know, it’s no disrespect to the people who are doing this Don’t Stop Believing show. When we get on they’re constantly on about it, and I just thought to myself, ‘We haven’t got enough time as it is and you want me to plug this dead horse?’.”

Regarding Shaw: “It’s just been arguments for the last couple of weeks, and I said to the people up there ‘I’m not feeling good about the future with Chris Shaw now’.”

Wright claimed that Shaw was the main reason his contract was not renewed, saying: “He just turned kind of like power mad, you know, and we came to the decision yesterday that its not going to go any further. Instead of renewing, I just said ‘Well, let’s just leave it’.”

He continued: “What’s happened is that Richard Desmond’s come in and, through Chris Shaw, they’ve just literally cut the show in half, there’s no banter, there’s no talk, and for the last couple of weeks where they’ve been trying it out I’ve been saying ‘This is pointless, this is not what I’m doing it for’. They stopped doing emails, no interaction with the public hardly now because there’s no time.”

That, and it’s one of the worst things ever aired.